I got my front strut tower brace!!

[everetty]

I don't know if this actually qualifies for the performance section (I almost put it in the aesthetic section because it is so damn good lookin).

Anyway it came today and hopefully I'll get a chance in the next few days to put it on. I got it from Street Beat Customs (www.streetbeatonline.com) for $28 + $10 shipping. There are pictures of this same strut brace installed on Howlett's probe in the pic post on PT so I know it will fit with minor modification.

When I put it on I'll take some pictures :)

[everetty]

I always do this...post something somewhere and then realize that it better fits somewhere else. In this case I believe this belongs in the suspension forum.

wooops

[rebby]

$40 total! kick ass... i should get one for beth's car...

you're right though... suspension... :)

man, we could be a self moderated group...

[AspitFire]

hey let me know how it fits...cuz if you can get it to fit...i am going to go ahead and buy one...so keep us posted..thanks

[everetty]

Hopefully I will put it on this weekend. I am almost positive it will fit without any problems. Howlett has had his on for about a month and he had to remove a little bit of the lining under the hood, but he also has phenolic spacers so that makes a difference. Either way I'll keep you guys updated (if only to get my post numbers up ;) )

Oh yeah, I searched around on Probetalk but couldn't find anything about the actual install of the front brace. I know it is really simple, but if someone would post a brief explanation of the procedure I would really appreciate it.

peace

[rebby]

Originally posted by everetty
(if only to get my post numbers up ;) )

hey, now... that's importaint... w/100+ posts you get the option of having a nice little (50x50) avatar...

<----- :)

as far as the install goes... real easy, remove bolts, insert stb, replace bolts... good luck...

let us know how you like it.. .i may get one for beth...

[MN Probe GT]

Before you made it 100 posts, I had one. But making a 50X50 pic sucks. I think we need at least 150X150.

[everetty]

I put the strut bar on yesterday. First thing I had to do was rip off that little bracket that holds the hood prop, but that only took a couple minutes. Loosening the bolts was a little tough but not bad. The bar fit really nice, but it is slightly touching the manifold. As far as I can tell it doesn't rub against the hood. I haven't had a chance to drive with it yet, but it sure looks nice.

Do you guys think that it touching the manifold will cause any problems?? Other than scratching the bottom of the bar a little bit.

[rebby]

i don't think that the bar touching the manifold would hurt but it will scratch up the bar and manifold some... do you have spacers?

[everetty]

Phenolic spacers??-no
I just read some posts about this on PT and it seems like it could be a problem due to the vibrations it will cause when the car is on. Someone said it makes a pretty loud noise. I think I might just put some washers under them, do you think that would cause any problems??

[everetty]

Well I put washers under the brace and now it clears the manifold perfectly, and the hood still shuts no problem ;)

[AspitFire]

aight i am getting one...anyone wanna help me put it on....i am a little...umm what do you call it mechanicly(car) stupid...as far as putting things on goes...but im ordering mine now...

[rebby]

Originally posted by AspitFire
aight i am getting one...anyone wanna help me put it on....i am a little...umm what do you call it mechanicly(car) stupid...as far as putting things on goes...but im ordering mine now...


this is a very straight forward install and only take a few minutes... @ the next meet i'm sure anybody would be willing to help ya out... bring your socket set :)

[domino]

I put one on in less then 15 minutes so it can be done by the average clutz in a hour or so
lol..........

[AspitFire]

i dont have to worry about the springs or anything right???just unscrew the apprpriate number of bolts and tighten them back up???

[domino]

THATS ABOUT IT

[tracer bullet]

he he he, a rookie!

[everetty]

I worried about the same thing right before I put mine on. I mean it seems like it could screw up your suspension somehow by undoing those bolts. But it was really easy (just had to put a little force to get a few of those bolts loose) ;)

[AspitFire]

Originally posted by tracer bullet
he he he, a rookie!

Yep thats me...i will accept it until i learn some stuff...:)

[AspitFire]

oh BTW how long did it take for you to recive your bar???

[domino]

I suppose not all of us can be pros

[everetty]

Well I ordered mine probably over a month ago (I posted in the bulk buy topic the day i ordered it so you can check there). It took a really long time but that was because they had to order a bunch. So my guess is that they still have them in stock and if that's the case it wouldn't take long at all, less than a week.

Did you give them a call yet?? I'm sure they will honestly tell you if they have them in stock or not.

[AspitFire]

no i didnt give them a call..i can wait im in no hurry

[domino]

hopefully its in for the next meet huh??

[AspitFire]

yea that would be nice if i can get it by then...i think it shouldnt be a problem thought its almost been a week already...so i think it will be here

[everetty]

did they give you a tracking number?? If not they might not have sent it yet.

[everetty]

oh on another note, since i had to put those washers under the brace, there is barely enough threads on the nuts catching. I opened up the hood the other day after driving for a while and one of the nuts had come loose and was just sitting there. I bought some nuts that are the right size and have the threading all the way to the bottom, but they won't screw on right. The threading on the bolt is kinda fucked up, so I'm not really sure what to do. I haven't really driven my car much since I realized this, although I don't think it would even make much a difference (as long as all the other nuts are on securely).

A friend of mine thought I could use locktite to get the original nut to stay on, what do you guys think??

[MN Probe GT]

It would be a bitch if you ever wanted to remove them again.

[everetty]

well my buddy says that if you put it on with locktite, you can still get it off, just a little extra force required.

I still don't know what I am gonna do though

[AspitFire]

remind me again why you put spacers on it????

[MN Probe GT]

so it will clear the intake manifold.

[AspitFire]

so am i going to have to install these spacers too and deal with this or not...and no i havent recived a tracking number yet so they havent shippped it yet

[MN Probe GT]

You might, but as some people have observed, the probe/mx-6 body can very by as much as an inch. That is why one company that makes a bar will only custom make it to fit your car.

[AspitFire]

[question mostly for rett]
ok i still havent recived a damn ups tracking number....how long is this thing going to take who should i contact

[domino]

to all who add this mod!!!!
beware of the nuts slowly loosening after time.
this will cause poor handling charicteristics and could cause an accident.
to rett when i put mine on, I also had to replace the factory nuts. the reason you cant thread them is they are a metric size fine thread not an SAE like you prolly have to replace them with and yes it is smart to replace them, to get the full thread

[tracer bullet]

On the Loctite, be careful which one you use. True, some of them (blue) you can get undone, just extra force. But others (red or purple), well, you can't. You'll likely strip the outside of a nut before you get it undone. Some Loctite is designed to be "permanent".

[AspitFire]

ok...i am starting to not want to do this mod to my car...is it safe if i get the nuts that jeremy is talking about?

[rebby]

why so many problems??? this was a straight forward mod for me...

[AspitFire]

well curt well curt i will just have you help me install it then :)

[domino]

just pick up some metric nuts that will fit and we can do it at the meet

[rebby]

Originally posted by Jeremy Dominick
just pick up some metric nuts that will fit and we can do it at the meet

yeah, we'll figure something out....

[AspitFire]

i suppose no one knows the exact bolt i need off hand do they??? i think it is time for me to buy a repair manual or somthign so i can answer these questions myself...

[AspitFire]

whoo hoo 69 POSTS...O wait this will make it 70 now....damn that was short lived...:)

[rebby]

Originally posted by AspitFire
whoo hoo 69 POSTS...O wait this will make it 70 now....damn that was short lived...:)

oh no... another user nearing avatar status.... :)

[MN Probe GT]

Are you sure your hard drive can take all those 50X50 pics?

[rebby]

Originally posted by MN Probe GT
Are you sure your hard drive can take all those 50X50 pics?

that won't be a problem... if it is, YOU can buy me another... :)

[MN Probe GT]

No....you need to buy me another one. Remember.....for my old computer? Now if I had only gotten in on that deal on amazon.com: $19.99 for 1 GB of RAM. :D

[rebby]

Originally posted by MN Probe GT
$19.99 for 1 GB of RAM. :D

say what????

[MN Probe GT]

It was a price glitch. It was supposed to be $999.99 but it was listed as $19.99. 256 MB modules were also listed at $9.99. They recieved over 2,000 orders because the deals popped up on web sites.....Nobody got anything for that cheap though....sorry.....

[AspitFire]

still havent recived my order or my order delivery conformation.....arggg

[AspitFire]

dont think i will have it by the meet...so maybe next time or maybe i will just pick on up somewhere else...

[VDubb]

This is a no brainer. At first, some bolts would not go on all the way down, but I have adjustable ends which can be loosened. After I did that, I kind of just wiggled it on so the end plates were flush and then everything tightened fine.

[AspitFire]

Well my brace was FINNALY shipped...it should be here in about 2 or 3 days

[AspitFire]

Well i got it today!!! i put it on..everything went on almost perfect..except now my hood shuts tough...i put some powder on the brace to see where and if it was touching the black stuff under the hood....and it was touching the on the two ends of the brace...so i cut off some off that hood crap(black stuff) but it still shuts tough..i will have to reajust it maybe...rett did you have this problem at all???

[tracer bullet]

I went the other direction - I filed a little bit of metal off of that bracket that fits over the strut bolts itself, so that the hood prop would sit a little further closer to the ground when it was put back in place. Know what I mean?

[AspitFire]

ill have to take a look at it sometime